This incorporates an attempt to follow up any kind of musical allusion in the play texts and stage directions which relate to dance and other musical forms. The examples chosen to represent musical forms are mainly by Elizabethan and Jacobean Court composers, often anonymous settings, here singled out for such qualities as concision and memorability. It should not prove a hindrance to their performance that pieces in this repertoire based on tunes and motifs from the popular music of the time for the most part was written for virginals, a gentle instrument unsuited to the stage and certainly inappropriate in open air performances. Much of this fine repertoire has been adapted for consorts of recorders or other instruments, and selection of titles for inclusion in this survey has often been related to the material drawn to my attention by the enthusiasm of the compilers of anthologies.
Works cited where a composer is not given are anonymous; in general, it is such pieces, especially those from the lute books, which will often prove most apt for use as stage music.
Full bibliographical citations (together with an incipit in musical notation) including those for related music in alternative settings are to be found in the preceding play survey within the serial number sequence 1-417. If a music suggestion has not been allocated to a particular point in a play, bibliographical information is given here in the NOTES, and if there is more than one numerical reference, see under the serial number in bold type within square brackets.
Included here also are various types of signals that may be encountered, as for instance those which might lend themselves to distinguish one particular faction or ‘house’ from another as they occur in the course of the plays.
see under word following the asterisk for detailed entry in these NOTES.
B
| bagpipes | Christopher Wilson comments on ‘the basest kind of pipe’ with its rustic connections. He notes the allusion to parrots laughing at bagpipers in MoV I i 53 as an indication of inappropriate behaviour (W8). Shylock later in the Court scene, IV i 49, 56, shows little respect for the musical popential of the wauling bagpipe which ‘sings in the nose’ and in 1H4 I ii 78 Falstaff declares that he feels as melancholy as the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. | |
| Peter Hall suggests various timbres to suggest Egyptian musical background in A&C (q.v.). | ||
| A tune suggesting bagpipes is the ‘Galliard to My Lord of Lumley’s pavan’ by BULL [kF11/ MB xix 129b] which has à 2-note drone bass (Fn89). ‘The thematic material in this *galliard is independent of the pavane (F41) and’ [unlike much of Bull’s keyboard music] ‘offers hardly any virtuosity’ writes Van den Borren (V271). | 491 (1298) | |
| ‘1er Branle de la cornemuse’ appears in a Ballard print 1614 ktSL4 | 492 | |
| WM ii 22 provides a group of four bagpipe pieces | ||
| a) `The bagpipes. (FD f9) | 493A | |
| b) ‘Cheshire round’ Walsh c1730 p. 19 | 493B | |
| c) ‘The Bagpipe hornpipe’ (which also appeared in the Lodge lute book (LO f4) c1570 | 493C (929) | |
| d) ‘Shropshire round’ Walsh 1719 no 28 | 493D (927) | |
| See also *bombard, *hornpipe, *Scottish motifs, *shepherds | ||
| ballad | Bruce Pattison notes how by the time of Henry VIII this name applied to songs of a popular character – songs with simple metrical tunes set to poetry of courtly style, but by Shakespeare’s time, viz Autolocus, the courtly style was no longer current (PA162). | |
| Peter Seng (Seng 45) draws attention to the problems of popular music titles of the time | ||
| Unfortunately the rubric “to the tune of” in broadside ballads is not for us a reliable index of the precise melody intended by the ballad-writer or ballad-printer. Tunes took their names from the ballads to which they were currently being sung; hence a popular tune might have a succession of names, all designating a single tune. On the other hand a single ballad might be sung to two or more tunes once it had given its name to those tunes a name would mask more than one melody. Confusion is further confounded when the modern scholar discovers that popular tunes are notoriously vulnerable to change through usage, and that he must reckon with multiple versions of what was once a single melody. | ||
| Frederick Sternfeld (S32) also places ballad titles in context | ||
| Popular lyrics of the Elizabethan age were commonly transcribed in purely instrumental versions, in books for the lute, the cittern or virginal. They were identified by a title or a marginal rubric, such as ‘Greensleeves’, or ‘O Mistress mine’. In such sources we must seek, and hope to find, a likely tune to fit the verbal lyric which more often than not appears in a truncated version in one of the contemporary plays. This adaptation of text to tune frequently necessitates the repetition of lines of the verse in order to suit the music and … Shakespeare… varied text and tune as occasion might require. | ||
| However, an attempt has been made to follow up an anthology of ballad texts which appeared in 1584 entitled A Handful of Pleasant Delights which included indications as to which tune, popular at the time, would fit the words, of which H. E. Rollins prepared an edition (Harvard UP, 1924) and in JAMS x (1957) 151-180. John Ward offers us illuminating notes which include a number of thematic incipits. (WH references in this text) | ||
| Willi Apel (NOHM iv 629) comments ‘no other country can boast such a wealth of charming popular sixteenth century melodies, nor a group of composers who…cultivated and enhanced it’, giving as examples ‘The woods so wilde’, Walsingham’, ‘All in a garden green’, ‘Go from my window’, ‘Up tails all’, ‘Bony sweet Robin’ and ‘Rosasolis’ | (15b, 44, 15d, 354f, 276a, 48, 989) | |
| ‘The Maydens songe’ is also included in Apel’s list for the setting by BYRD which, by omitting the variations, the 16 bar statement alone could enhance a scene set in the countryside F126/ BY28/ MB 82 xxviii, ۞Hp 16. The original source is in the Mulliner Book MB 1 (f3)1/ MB1s 1/ MB1à 5; ۞Mo iv 8 | 494 | |
| Diana Poulton also notes how English instrumental music of the period is unique in its time for its frequent use of ballad and popular melodies, considering it no exaggeration to say that about a quarter of the composed music is based on tunes to which *broadside ballads were sung. Her 1965 anthology of 10 English ballad tunes for the lute (PO) gathers some of the best known examples of Shakespeare’s time. | (18, 48, 179, 191d, 221, 276a, 303b, 350b, 354f) | |
| Among the many lute manuscript collections which are major sources for English ballad tunes are the *Ballet (BA), *Dallis (DL) and *Thysius (Th) lute books. | ||
| Some of the most distinguished treatment of ballads was made by DOWLAND in versions for lute as witness the title list under his name in the composer index. | (44, 48, 115b, 203a, 354f) | |
| There is a setting (PI f 19/ MP f15-15v) PIv23/CW100/ WA vi 16 doubtfully attributed to Dowland, ‘What if a day’ facsim. BL iii (f25v) 21; D79/ LSoc C19/ PN6; gSG15; ۞CamP2/ ۞CmD viii 24/ ۞Du7/ ۞Ld iv 2 i/ ۞MgN18/ ۞MsE i 22; rA + g RD33, which also exists in a version as a lute song. perhaps by CAMPION WA iv 16/ K66; tune SB501 (see article by David Greer in ML xliii 1962, 304–319) | 495 (1086) | |
| Another notable source is the *Fitzwilliam Virginal Book whose settings of popular ballads have sometimes been our only record of such tunes. Simpson notes how the collection shows widespread indebtedness to street tunes, many of which were used for singing *broadsides (SB xii). | (44, 48, 60, 63c, 74, 106b, 115d, 184b, 188d, 191d, 193, 201b, 203a, b, 221, 303b, 344, 354f, 405, 821) | |
| The contribution that FARNABY makes here is valuable, for his attractive settings usually open with a beautifully harmonized statement of the ballad tune (see Composer index). | ||
| An interesting source for consort music which might be used in the plays is evident from a number of printed books of consort music published on the European continent which used English popular ballad tunes as a basis, most notably by Scheidt, Haussmann, Demantius, Praetorius and the ex-patriots Brade and Simpson. (See under these names in the Composer index). | ||
| For such polyphonic consort settings (mostly à 4 or 5), Bernard Thomas’ anthology of 10 ballad settings 1985 is invaluable (TB) | (48, 191d, 203a, 219, 236, 303b, 627, 662) | |
| ballet | French name for masque or mimed Court dance; there are fine examples of ‘ballets’ à 4 and 5 in settings in PRAETORIUS Terpsichore, his anthology of French dances published in 1612: the pair à 4 consisting of the exquisitely graceful ‘Ballet des Princesses’ P277/ Pm iii 3; ۞NeP7 ii, iv | 496 |
| and the ‘Elizabethan’ sounding Ballet P268; ۞NeP7 iii / ۞PaD 18/ ۞Pb2; rS + g Pc 15; rS/A/T + g RD27; gPw 3; this can be effectively played ‘da capo’ (ABA sequence). | 497 | |
| see also *seafarers, *sorcery, for other Praetorius ‘ballets’ | ||
| Ballet lute book | (*BA) one of the main sources (EIRE-Dtc MS D.1. 21, part 1) of named ballad tunes popular in Shakespeare’s time adapted for lute; among the 63 tunes are some alluded to in the plays. Such scholars as Chappell and Simpson have married these to texts as they appear in broadside ballads of the time. The ms. has been dated 1589. See especially H. M. Fitzgibbon The lute books of Ballet and Dallis in ML xi (1930) 73-4 and LSJ ix (1967) and x (1968). | |
| Note that there is a separate collection known as the Dublin lute manuscript ’(DY), part 2 of EIRE-Dtc D.i. 21, which was bound with the Ballet Book and contains a further 63 pieces. | ||
| bandora, pandora | the bass *cittern, a lute-like wire-strung instrument with scalloped profile invented in 1561; acted as bass to the Elizabethan *broken consort as featured in the MORLEY ‘Consort Lessons’ (M) published in 1599 (See Composer index). | |
| banquet scenes | A&C II vii [4], Cor IV v [18], 2H6 I i [63], Mac III iv [115], Mu I i [155], Te III iii [217], ToA I ii [225], T.A. V iii [231]; these usually required at the opening *loud music, namely a prolonged *sennet on the *hautboys to ‘drown creaking machinery used to lift the table into place’ (B263). | |
| bass | in Tem III ii 96-99 Alonso’s remark about the effect of thunder, ‘That deep and dreadful organ-pipe did bass my trespass’ SE ii 33 indicates that Prospero’s sound effects provided a bass to the loud music of the waves. See also *divisions (on a ground bass) | |
| basse danse | slow and stately French court dance type (danse per bas, ou sans sauter i.e. gliding along the ground), which together with the tourdion (see below) in triple time are forerunners of the pavane and galliard, the characteristic Courtly dances of the Elizabethan era. Peggy Dixon gives description and steps DI iii 6, 11-13, and Mabel Dolmetsch describes the form with steps and drum beats DF 15-34, the musical example she chose being from the 1529 set à 5 published by Attaignant. | 498 |
| See also Daniel Heartz in G7 ii 864-6 and Van den Borren in NOHM iv 5 | ||
| A basic source are the Attaignant collections; 18 basses danses for lute of 1529 and 9 bassesdanses… à 4 of 1530 LPM AD1. Arbeau in his dance manual Orchésographie of 1588-9 (Fn50 -3/ N132-9) indicates the three sections comprising the sequence: | ||
| a) basse danse, his example ‘La Jouyssance vous donneray’ will sound familiar (after the chanson à 4 by SERMISY in the Attaignant 1530 collection LPM PC4) steps DI iii 1 i/ DF45-8. Arbeau gives the steps together with the tune and tabor rhythms in facsimile in ARe 67-71, ۞BroA 3 i-ii & 7 i/ ۞EmH1; rA CT12; rSATB TR5 | 499a | |
| b) retour de basse danse ‘continuation de l’air’ (i.e. the reprise) ARe 72-74, | 499b | |
| c) tourdion with its five steps ARe 96-98 (see below) | 499c (504) | |
| These dance tunes will be familiar to British ears, as a) and b) the opening movement and c) as the 3rd movement of Warlock’s ‘Capriol suite’. Another French piece which has appeared under many guises was derived from a chanson à 4 of SERMISY ‘Dont vient cela’ LPM EML 205; it occurs in a ms. of Henry VIII’s time (RA f30v) ۞Se3/ ۞MnF12; rA CT8; in keyboard notation MB66: 59; as a lute song MB lxvi 83; as a basse danse in the Attaignant 1530 set à 4 LPM AD1, and later among the 13 basses danses à 4 in Susato SU i 4 (and reprise i 5) TD5; ۞YC 12 | 500 | |
| Relevant to the evolution of the English Court dance, Van den Borren (NOHM iv 5) notes how French composers around 1530 were able to express elementary feelings ‘with the maximum simplicity and concentration,’ and that Sermisy, the most fashionable of the chanson composers ‘composed in the rhythm and form of *pavanes, antecedents showing how apt was this grave, ceremonial court dance which could express the emotions of pain, grief and resignation.’ | ||
| The first Attaignant collection of 18 basses danses for lute, 1529, includes ‘La Roque’ with its saucy rhythms familiar from the ‘Scotch snap’ PN2; ۞Md38 which was taken up and set à 4 by Susato (1551) SUi ;rS/A/T + g RD8, later by Phalèse (1571) in Daniel Heartz Preludes, Chansons and dances for lute. Neuilly sur Seine, Société de Musique d’Autrefois (1964) 48/ ۞YC21, and by Arbeau as ‘La Roque’ ۞BroA3; | 501 | |
| and another basse danse ‘La Volunté’ à 5 by GERVAISE is given in GD3/ HM137a | 502 | |
| The sequence was also referred to as ‘*measures’, a name taken over by its successor the *pavane, though this was set in duple time (MM141) . This set of movements was to prepare the ground for the later instrumental suite (cf NOHM iii 451). | ||
| Tourdion (tordiglione), in origin the third strain of the basse danse, is a galliard variant in 6/8 time (Fn49 after AR 25) a galliard par terre, i.e. gliding, that is without the leaping or sault majeur). Examples in the Attaignant dance collections: 1530 ‘La Magdalena’ basse danse and tourdion | (26c) 503 | |
| and 1547 rSATB HP8 and in LPM AD2; rA CT14; which appears in Arbeau in a simplified version AR137/ ARe 96-7, 248; à 4 ARi 3-4/ N137-8; harmonized by W. Wolstenholme with dance steps kBYe 3; SA ARd 8; (Capriol suite 3rd mvt.) | 504 | |
| ‘Turkeyloney’ (DF101 corruption of ‘tordiglione’ or ‘tourdion’) was also named ‘Pavane d’Anvers’. Mabel Dolmetsch fits the popular 16c. tune ‘Chi passa’ to the dance steps | (384) 505 | |
| There are apparently over a hundred settings in various forms of the ancient dance tune popular throughout Europe, ‘La Spagna’, including a number which are anonymous. These include two from the late 15th century à 4 rATTB LPM AN2, another from the Petrucci publication Canti C 1504 à 3 rATB in LPM AN3; a setting by GHISELIN in the Capirola lute book c1517; rATBB or SATT LPM 205; an outstanding setting à 5 attributed to JOSQUIN (rATTBB or viols) LPM RB3; by Francisco de la TORRE ‘Alta’ à 3 HM102a; ۞Mt 1; LPM EML 120 (together with a setting by ISAAC); Rooley Penguin book of early music (1980) 123-5; by Costanzo FESTA ‘Contrapunti sopra il canto fermo “La Spagna”’ à 5 LPM EML 338; a piece for bass viol by ORTIZ 1553; and as a lute duet by Francesco CANOVA di Milano ‘La Soagna’ RY9. | 506 | |
| Arbeau (1589) noted how the basse danse had been going out of fashion other than for state occasions. | ||
| battle music | ‘Battle’ pieces are featured in 16th century European repertoire, three examples are in Andrew Minor’s anthology (MI 101 i-iii) set for shawms, sackbut and drums ‘Prima chiamata di guerra,’ (First Battle call), | 507 |
| ‘Seconda chiamata, che va sonata avanti la Battaglia’ (Second call before the Battle), | 508 | |
| and ‘Battaglia’ (Battle call); ۞CamS2/ ۞Lg2 | 509 | |
| Further battle pieces include adaptations of the popular chanson ‘La guerre’ by JANEQUIN; by Susato SU ii 46 as Pavane no 5 ‘La bataille’; à 4 rS/A/T+ T/S + T/S + B RC i 38; steps DI iii 20; ۞EmR 12/ ۞MnF14/ ۞Sg 12/ ۞SUd7/ ۞YC 1; the Hesse brothers ‘Pavana La bataglia’ à 6 is in the Bernard Thomas anthology TR 1; for lute (DL152), also as ‘Pavane de la guerre’ à 4 together with its Galliard set by GERVAISE (Attaignant Danseries vol. 3 1557 LPM AD3: 4), ۞YC6 | 510 (1237), (357) 511 | |
| The pavane motif was later also used by DOWLAND for his ‘Battle galliard’ or ‘The King of Denmark’s galliard’; | (357), 512 (538, 867) | |
| in the rather earlier ‘A la bataglia’ by ISAAC in which Bernard Thomas draws attention to some exciting rhythmic writing, although its length would tend to rule it out for stage use LPM AN1/ LPM TM28/ DTÖ xvi 1/ GS38/ Das Erbe deutscher Musik I xxxiv (1975). | 513 | |
| Other consorts in this vein are by PRAETORIUS ‘Courante de la bataglia’ P48 à 5; ۞NeP12 iii/ ۞PaD32; | 514 (677) | |
| ‘Aria del Battaglia per sonar di stromenti da fiato’ à 8 by Andrea GABRIELI (1590) which Bernard Thomas calls ‘the ultimate battle piece’ spLPM501/ Moeck 1118/ Henri Expert Les Maîtres de la Renaissance française vii (1898) 31-61, which may be performed by voices or instruments; | 515 | |
| and a piece by PADOVANO 1590 with the same title opens similarly spMoeck 1130/ MI 102-117. | 516 (1542) | |
| Three battle calls for trumpet from FANTINI Modo imparare a sonare di tromba 1638 are given in MI 1015: ‘Prima chiamata di guerra’; ‘Secunda chiamata che va Sonata avanti la Battaglia, and ‘Battaglia’ (a battle call) | 517-9 | |
| Nos. 3-5 of BYRD The Lady Nevell Virginal Book forms a suite of ‘battle’ pieces, | ||
| 3 ‘March before the battle’ elsewhere entitled ‘The Earl of Oxford’s march’ | (219b) 520 | |
| 4 ‘Mr Byrd’s battaile’ (MB xxviii 94a-i) | ||
| a) The Soldiers’ summons RV1 | 521 (1505) | |
| b) The *March of the footmen RV2; 2co+2sa+dr CM426-7 (‘The Mqarch of foot’) | 522 (1119) | |
| c) The *March of the horsemen (tune also used in DOWLAND ‘King of Denmark’s galliard’) | (357), 523 | |
| d) The *Trumpetts 2 tp/2 co + 2sa/2hn + dr CM429-431: march or long flourish; r+dr PR26 ii & iv bar 13ff | 524 (1506) | |
| e) Irish March RV3, ۞Cap13 | 525 (958) | |
| f) The *bagpipe and the *drone RV4 | (407c) 526 | |
| g) The *flute and the *drum RV5 | (14) 527 (752) | |
| h) The *March to the fight | 528 (1123, 1504) | |
| i) The *Retreat 2tp CM417: 5; trumpet alone PE 26 iii | 529 (1368) | |
| and three further later compositions not in BY (Alan Brown dates them as c.1630 or later) | ||
| The Burying of the dead (incipit in MB xxviii 113a) RV7 | (12) 530 | |
| The *Morris (incipit in MB xxviii 113b) | 531 (1195) | |
| The Soldier’s dance RV6 (incipit MB xxviii 113c) RV6 setting of popular tune ‘A soldier’s life’as in SB516 | (46) 532 | |
| This set of pieces had not been rated high in the Byrd canon (although described with interest by Neighbour NB172-5); the final piece could redress the balance, being admired by both Neighbour and Naylor: | ||
| 5 The *Galliarde for the Victorie BY5/ MB xxviii 95/ RV8; ۞Mo vii 6 | 533 | |
| Keyboard pieces by BULL can be mentioned here, a coranto entitled ‘Battle’ MB xix 106; ۞A14; also published as a ‘Courante’ by Praetorius P183; gPw 1; | 534 | |
| ‘A Battle and no battle’ (Phrygian music) MB ixx 108, of which Alan Brown notes that this long, elaborate and showy piece was perhaps for the young Prince Henry | 535 | |
| and also notes that a further anonymous pair, ‘Battle pavane and galliard’ has been attributed to Ferdinand RICHARDSON as well as BULL MB xix 109 a-b | 536-7 | |
| VALLET includes a ‘Battaille’à 7 in his anthology ‘Le Secret des muses’ VS ii 29 | 537A | |
| and ‘Galliard Battaglia’ of SCHEIDT is worth consideration, 5 brass. Schirmer SSW59/ Nagel NMA 137/ HM 140 | 537B | |
| see also *march | ||
| Bedlam | (‘Poor Tom o’ Bedlam’) see especially Lear III ii 56; other references in Lear I ii 141, II ii 20, and III vii 103; H5 V i 19 and a good many in 2H6 | (130) 538 |
| bells | the tone picture offered in ‘The Bells’ by BYRD with its haunting mantra induced by the increasing elaboration of the descending scale is truly remarkable | (191c) 539 |
| ‘A knell of Johnson’ or ‘The Bells’ à 5, whose descending scale opening middle part is shown in the incipit, has been attributed to Robert JOHNSON MB xliv 39; rSATTB in ‘5 Tudor consorts’ OL 144: 3 (ed. Gaskell); ۞PaM10 | 540 | |
| ‘Twenty ways upon the bells’ for 2 lutes by ROBINSON | 541 (1074) | |
| and ‘Carillon du village’ by VALLET (Le Secret des Muses, no. 15) VS ii 28 | 541A | |
| The lute song ‘O death rock me asleep…Ring out my doleful knell’ alluded to in 2H4 II iv201 has a tolling bell-like treatment of the bass | (56a) 542 (1037) | |
| ‘bells and bones’ | allusion in TNK III v 87 ‘let him play Chi passa o’th’ bells and bones’ tune of a song (published in 1557) which became very popular in instrumental arrangements | (384) 543 |
| bergamasca; bergomask | peasant dance in 2/4 time. Allusion in MND III ii 360, ‘Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergamask dance between two of our company?’. | |
| Sources for this famous tune include ‘La Bergamaska’ in the Straloch lute MS; for which FRESCOBALDI set his Bergamasca à 4 | (215b) 544 | |
| As the title implies, BULL ‘The new Bergomask’ MB xix 124 is based on a different tune; | 545 | |
| and SCHEIDT 1621 ‘Canzon ad imitationem Bergamasca angl.’ à 5 (Ludi musici 1621, 2a) cw ii-iii 36 likewise appears not to be related to the old tune; rSSATB Oriel OL 163; rSA+vn +va+vc+continuo. Bärenreiter; ed. Heiner Garff HM96 (1961); | 546 | |
| Two virginals pieces which feature the ground are FARNABY ‘Up tails all’ F243 | (276a) 547 | |
| and MORLEY Alman F152 (WT112) | (215h) 548 | |
| ‘Les Pantalons’ is another bergamasca included in the VALLET anthology VS i 33; à 4 CM 349-350; see also *ground | 549 | |
| bergeret | see *shepherds | |
| birdsong and calls | there is a host of allusions to birdsong (or apology for song) in the plays in both speech and song; for example in speech: | |
| ‘the cock, that is the trumpet to the morn’ Ham I i 147; and ‘your cuckoo sings by kind’ apparently an allusion to a ballad whose words and tune are lost AW I iii 63. As one might expect the nightingale is not overlooked, although Portia’s famous eulogy implies that day-time competition from the crow, lark, wren or the cackling goose might have that result in MoV V i 103-6 ‘twenty caged nightingales do sing’ ToS Induction ii 36; ‘the nightingale’s complaining notes’ TG V iv 5 and ‘shall we rouse the night owl’ TN II iii 59; and (though unspecified) ‘to the lute she sang and made the night bird mute’ Per IV Prologue 25-6 and ‘I had as lief heard the night raven’ Mu II iii 86 | ||
| There is a veritable aviary in songs such as that which Bottom sings to keep his pecker up which celebrates the blackbird, thrush and wren, ‘The ousel cock, so black of hue, With orange- tawny bill, The throstle with his note so true, The wren with little quill’, | (203b) 550 | |
| or in that which Autolycus greets the Spring, ‘…the sweet bird, how they sing! …The lark, that tirra-lirra chants, With heigh! With heigh! The thrush and the jay…’ | (403) 551 | |
| and in Moth’s ‘When daisies pied… The cuckoo then, on every tree…And merry larks are ploughman’s clocks, When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws…’ | (154) 552 | |
| which is followed by the famous evocation of Winter which includes the delightful ‘Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-who; Tu-whit, tu-who – a merry note…’ | (155) 553 | |
| and two allusions to the great songster ‘Hark! hark! the lark at Heaven’s gate sings’ | (30) 554 | |
| as well as ‘The lark that tirra-lirra chants’ | 554A | |
| An illusion to birds occurs in a song included in the suggested repertoire, the bright and witty (WB121) ‘Of all the birds that ever I see, Philip my sparrow hath no peer’ by BARTLETT | (154b) 555 | |
| Ariel’s song ‘Come unto these yellow sands’ ends ‘Hark, hark! I hear The strain of Chanticleer, followed by the cry ‘Cock-a-diddle-dow’ Tem I ii 384 | (298) 556 | |
| Repertoire involving birds includes songs with viol consort, such as the fresh and delightful (WB 129) ‘Cuckoo’ by NICHOLSON MB xxii 49/ WE iii 5; rSSATB ed. by Theo Wyatt OL117: 1; | ||
| and as no 1 in ‘3 Consort pieces,’ arr, by Dennis Bloodworth. Boosey (1975) | 557 | |
| and the anonymous ‘This merry pleasant Spring’ with nightingale, sparrow and lark | 558 (1439) | |
| Among RAVENSCROFT ‘Country pastimes’ is a catch à 4 ‘There were three ravens’, also occurring as Child ballad 26 | 559 (615) | |
| Other pieces of fine Renaissance ‘bird music’ are ‘Le chant des oiseaux’ by JANNEQUIN opening ‘Reveilez vous cueurs, endormis,’ Henri Expert Les Maîtres de la Renaissance française vii, Paris, Leduc (1898) 1-30; also included as a lute solo in CANOVA da Milano; ed. by Arthur J. Ness. Harvard UP, 1970, no 120 | 560 | |
| and a consort to rouse us at dawn is PRAETORIUS ‘Ballet des coqs’ à 5 P254; P iv; Pm v 8; Pt i 11; ۞EmP6 iii/ ۞NeP8 iv/ ۞Pa31; rA CT42; rSSATB RC iii 34. | 561 | |
| A charming *lute duet (in 4/4 rhythm) is the anonymous ‘Le Rossignol’ | 562 (1067) | |
| while a piece (here set à 5 in ¾ rhythm) with that title from 13th century France appears in RC i 3 | 562A | |
| There is a sprightly country dance ‘The chirping of the nightingale’ E65 | 563 | |
| and The BRADE collection of 1617 includes ‘Die Nachtigall’ à 5 rSSATB BN25/ BNd2 | 563A | |
| and ‘The chirping of the lark’ is another name for ‘Kempe’s morris’ | (39b) 564 (1193) | |
| see also under canary, which is treated as a separate genre | ||
| blackamoors dance | for the masque in LLL V ii 58 there is a masque dance (BN24) so entitled; it was a feature of the *May games to dance the *morris with blackened faces | (151f) 565 (1190) |
| ‘blank song’ | where the play text provides no lyric to the stage direction ‘Song’, examples are 1H4 III i 232, JC IV ii 264, Per V i 79 | (51, 115, 263) |
| Les Bouffons | ‘Parades des bouffons,’ also called ‘Mattachins’ is a *pavane à 4 with *passamezzo moderno ground bass (Phalèse 1571 Dançeries). Long suggests this dance tune for the ‘hay’ alluded to in LLL V i 153. It is also suggested as an athletic sword dance for four performers. In Susato 1588 the version of the tune appears as a branle ‘Danse de Hercule oft maticine’. This tune is familiar from Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite 6th movement and is apparently related to that in the ‘lively song’ (V216-7) ‘John come kiss me now’, of which there are many settings. The first eight bars of the virginals piece by BYRD offers a fine yet simple harmonisation, though the brilliant set of variations which follow must needs be omitted for use in theatrical context. | (106b) 566 (735) |
| bransle, brawle, brand | French country dance types, hence the allusion to a ‘French brawl’ in LLL III i 9, often in fast common time, with origins in the *basse danse. Cotgrave’s French/ English Dictionary, 1611 notes that a brawle/bransle is a dance where many men and women hold hands, sometimes in a ring and at others at length, move all together. A Description and history is given in SA p17-18, and the steps in DH53 (see 568 below) | |
| Daniel Heartz in G6 iii 201-3 gives a concise history of the branle forms, which are also noted in MM143. Claude Simpson (SB382) describing it as a popular 16th century dance featuring a sideways motion, notes that although of Continental origin at least one memorable tune was taken up in England, giving an example 1566 ‘Caterbralles‘ or ‘Quarter braules’ perhaps familiar in the very attractive Susato version à 4 (Quatre branles’) | (325b) 567 | |
| Another of the five branles in Susato is the jaunty ‘Hoboecken’ SU i 30; ۞YC14; kDB12, which is selected in ۞BroS8 to represent the ‘French brawl’ at Moth’s allusion. The version of the tune in DH53 is derived from the Dublin Virginal manuscript. DB20/ N57; ۞BroL 12/ ۞DH no 12 | 568 | |
| A collection of branles is presented in the dance manual Orchésographie of Arbeau published in 1589 (see AR in Key; BS347-9; DF55-81; Fn41 give a description); examples in Pc 1-3Pb16. There are types in triple as well as common time as in the mid-16th century dance collections published by Attaignant (LPM AD series); examples: rA CT18-28 Branle tunes: simple (3), double (3), de Poitou (2), gay (3) (examples noted below). | ||
| Some examples of the lively, catchy yet pretty dances, familiar from the ‘Capriol Suite’ by Warlock based on tunes given in Arbeau’s dance manual Orchésographie published in 1588, are given below, and where traced, his sources, usually in settings à 4 in the various Danseries published in 16th century France. | ||
| simple examples are in Arbeau ARe132, 254; à 4 ARi 10; kDF60, steps DF58; ۞BroA 1 ii | 569 | |
| and from a set by Praetorius in Terpsichore à 5 in P4/ P ii ; P4: 1 HG9; ۞NeP4 i/ ۞PaD17 | 570 | |
| and another based on a chanson à 5 by CERTON ‘La, la, la, je ne l’ose dire’ (in LPM TM56) also in Estrées TR 6b and Praetorius in P12/ P ii; ۞NeP4 | 571 | |
| double examples are, the tune in Arbeau ARe 128-132, 254; rSA ARd 7 (Warlock 4th movement ‘Branles’); | (23b i) 572 | |
| Others, set by Praetorius in Terpsichore à 5; ۞NeP4 iii; P4:6-8; rS+k Pb 7-9; P4:6, 8 HG11-12 | 573-5 | |
| and a another three, also from Terpsichore à 4 P12:1 TR6a/ Pm iv 1; P12:1-3 rS+g Pc 1-3 | 576-8 | |
| gay examples are, the tune in Arbeau ARe 133-4, 254; DF61-2; rS + k DX13, ۞BroA 1 iii | 579 | |
| consort à 4 set by Praetorius in P12 in Moeck 3607 | 580 | |
| another set for lute by Bésard gNR3; | 581 | |
| a sequence of three from a suite of six set by Praetorius à 4 P5/ TR7a-c; one example | 582-4 | |
| and a further three branles gais à 5 P4 HG10, 13 and 14; one example ۞NeP4 ii | 585-7 | |
| and others à 4 from Estrées 1559 3me Livre de dançeries: 16/ TR6c | 588 | |
| a nd a set of branles gays from an Attaignant collection played on hurdy-gurdy ۞YM 11 | 588A | |
| ‘de Poitou’ tune in 9/4 (Warlock v. ‘Pieds en l’air’) ‘a figure of the galliard’ | (23b ii) 589 (1369) | |
| ‘coupé de la guerre’ ARe 143-4; rSA ARd 10; tune and steps DF76-8; steps DI iv 8 | 590 | |
| ‘de la Torche’ a) ARe 162-3; lt(BO 23r 69); rA CT31; also set by Praetorius à 5 P15; LPM MCR2; ۞NeP3; also arr. for 5 crumhorns ۞NeP9; rS + g Pc6; rSSATB TR 10; in *processional style, the haunting effect of the hemiola rhythms will stay in the listener’s mind; Bernard Thomas notes that it is virtually identical to the pavane ‘Le Forze d’Hercole’ (TR p.15) LPM DM3:42 (ed. Murrow); rA CT1; ۞BaB 17; b) there is also a setting of ‘La Forze d’Erculle’ by BIANCHINI WM ii 153 | 591 | |
| ‘de la Haye’ is mentioned under *hay | (23a) 592 (924) | |
| ‘de l’Officiel’ AR91 has a tune familiar to British carol singers rSA ARd5; tune and steps ARe 172-4/ kDF 79-81; steps DI iv 28-29; rS + k DX6; arr. by Thomas rSATB BC i 23; ۞BroA8 ii | 593 | |
| ‘des sabots’ tune and steps N142 | 593A | |
| ‘de villages’ here Praetorius has an attractively rollicking suite of six country dances à 5, P14: ۞NeP5/ ۞PaD23; P14: 1 in F/ Pm vi 1; nos 1, 3 & 5 rS+g +continuo Pr 11-13; no 6 ‘Philou’ is especially memorable | 594-9 | |
| ‘Branle du Haut Barrois’ Arbeau calls for movements of the shoulders and arms, danced in a ‘light and rapid measure’ (BS347; DF63) which he suggests as suited to masqueraders disguised as peasants and shepherds, thus exactly fitting the stage direction in H8 I iv 63 | (104b ii) 600 | |
| The Dublin Virginal Book has an *allemande ‘Le pied de cheval’ kDB18; à 4 DBt4, which Arbeau entitled ‘Branle des chevaux’ AR88; ARe 165-7; steps DI iv 28; rSATB TR9, rS/A + k DX22 described as a ‘mimic brawl’ (TR p.59); ۞BroA 6 iii/ ۞Mh 11 i; | 601 | |
| There is another setting with this title in the Leroy publication 1552 f15v WM ii 37c | 602 | |
| and a piece by GERVAISE Branle de Bourgogne à 4, rS/AA/TTB RC i 37 | 602A | |
| Crossing back over the Channel we find ‘Worster brawls’ by TOMKINS (MB v 1 & in Tomkins 15 Dances S&B K2) ‘a miniature masterpiece and a capital tune’ (Fn 290) | 603 | |
| Two tunes will be found for the ‘*Scotch brawl’: in the Straloch lute book rSATB + k/g CM386-7; rS + k DX25 | 604 | |
| and Arbeau gives description and steps to an unrelated tune for a ‘Branle d’Ecosse’ AR79, ARe 149-151/ PS105 whose two sections are shown in the incipit rSSATB TR11; ۞Se11/ ۞BaA23/ ۞BroA5 ii; steps DI iv 22 | 605 (1401) | |
| brawl(e), | see branle above | |
| breast | a good singing voice as in ‘the fool has an excellent breast’. TN II iii 20 | |
| broadside *ballad | see under *ballad, and the note at the head of the Title index | |
| broken consort | A play on words referring to ‘broken music’ in T&C III i 52, relates to music for broken consort. This is the mixed instrumental grouping à 6 called for in the Consort Lessons of MORLEY 1599 (M; see composer index), Lessons for consort of ROSSETER 1609 (RL) as well as the ‘Walsingham’ and ‘Matthew Holmes’ part books, namely, ‘flute’ i.e.*recorder, treble *viol, (treble) *lute, *bandora, *cittern and bass *viol MB xl). These part books have in some cases came down to us with a part missing which scholars, Sydney Beck (for Morley) and Warwick Edwards (for the Walsingham and Holmes books) have sometimes been able to reconstruct from other sources. This particular instrumental line-up was referred to as ‘the English consort’ by Praetorius. (cf. N32-3) | |
| As to the role of the broken consort in the Shakespearean theatre, Sidney Beck (M. p.2) has convincingly assembled much evidence that connects this type of band with the Elizabethan stage, stage, though Peter Holman’s research concludes that the genre such as appears in Morley’s anthology was only taken up as incidental music by commercial theatre musicians and the waits rather later than in performances at Court and other aristocratic households (HV132). For detailed commentary on the form, see SP149-204 chapter 6 ‘The lute in consort’. | ||
| Some Morley broken consort settings have been suggested for use in this survey; including Two ALISON pieces, the profoundly moving ‘Go from my window’, whose opening statement could be effective on the stage, (the later development becomes increasingly elaborate) | (354f) 606 (898) | |
| and his dignified yet sprightly ‘Batchelar’s delight’, no 24 in the Lessons, although the captivating hemiola rhythms would not fit all stage contexts, but could be well suited as interval music ۞BaL6/ ۞BreF6/ ۞DoH2/ ۞Sf6/ ۞Eg 10; as well as others mentioned elsewhere in the notes (see Composer list under Morley). | 607 | |
| See also under *lute duet for mention of a thesis by Julia Craig McFeely Duet and consort music in solo lute sources’ (1994) | ||
| Browning, | or ‘Leaves be green.’ see under *greenwood | (154d) |
| burden, burthen | refrain to a song, such as ‘Down-a-down’ as alluded to in Ham IV v 171 and TNK IV iii 10. See also *catches | |
| The interjections in a song are also referred to as ‘burdens’ as in ‘Come unto these yellow sands’ Tem I ii 381, 382 ‘Bow, wow’ dispersedly. Other allusions to this less obvious meaning of the word occur in As III ii 249, Mu III iv 43, TG I ii 82 |